Toto Wolff appears to have confirmed that Mercedes has made its decision on who will partner with Lewis Hamilton from the 2022 season. Valtteri Bottas and George Russell are competing alongside seven-time world champion Hamilton for the only seat that delivered an outstanding performance in qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix on Saturday.
Russell was barely denied a shock pole position by Red Bulls Max Verstappen at Spa after placing his Williams with a great performance in front of Hamilton, who starts third.
The 23-year-old recalled what he could do in a World Cup car when he sealed his team’s first start from the front row since Monza in 2017.
This happens despite the fact that Williams is eighth in the 10-Team Constructors’ Championship and their problems are shown by the fact that Russell, on the team since early 2019, only scored his first points for them in Hungary.
The young Mercedes driver is widely regarded as the title holder of the future and has made it publicly clear that he feels ready to climb into the Silver Arrows.
At the same time, Bottas was questioned and ended up in eighth place in Belgium, but will drop another five places for the race on Sunday due to a penalty.
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The Finn was a second slower than Russell, with whom he awkwardly shared a press conference ahead of the Grand Prix on Thursday.
Wolff has said that he and seven-time world champion Hamilton “have the same opinion” as to who should be chosen between Russell and Bottas.
And the Austrian said in an interview with Sky Sports F1 on Saturday after Russell had placed his car on an unexpected P2: “Very good lap. Very impressive.
“You have to drive a lap like that and stay on the track. He was only a touch away from pole position. So yes, congratulations.”
When asked whether his performance in qualifying had made the decision more difficult for Mercedes, Wolff suggested that the Brackley team had come to a result.
He said: “I think we now know where we are. We know what we have, what he has” [Russell] can do. Today was just another confirmation that he can drive. “
When asked when Mercedes will make its decision official, Wolff only said: “Soon. Soon.”
Hamilton was among those who congratulated Russell after his round, saying, “Well done Max, he did a great job in the end.
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“My first lap was really good, but I struggled a bit on the second. Also a great job from George, that’s fantastic.”
While Russell himself said to Sky Sports: “A great feeling. We definitely didn’t expect to start in the front row. We did everything right at the right moment.
“Often these positions are about that. We are very happy for the whole team that we of course achieved a fantastic result in Hungary and it feels like our hard work is paying off and people are starting to see it. “
“I already had a really good feeling in FP3 from lap one. Here in the wet, when it came down to it, we really put everything together. It was an extraordinary ending.
“That’s what Formula 1 is about, this feeling. I missed that. I want to fight for pole position every week.
“It was so difficult out there. Because we’re not in Q3 every time, I had a bit of luxury that I could risk everything and really get started.
“But qualifying is over and the race is tomorrow. We have to make sure we have a good race.
“I think so [we want the rain again]. When the conditions are like this, overtaking maneuvers and races become really difficult and very tricky.
“We all hope for something permanent, whether wet or dry. But I’m pretty confident we won’t have that tomorrow.
“It’s going to be a tricky race for the guys on the pit wall. We have to make sure we’re there in the end. You have to be there to win it.”
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